Sunday, March 27, 2011

US Nationals 30K Classic Race

Today was the US Nationals 30K here in Sun Valley, ID. The conditions were perfect and the weather was beautiful! Sun Valley lived up to it's name with tons of sunshine throughout the morning. I woke up this morning feeling better then I had the night before. I had a rough day yesterday and was pretty tired from all of the excitement. I had to take a quick trip to the ER because I almost passed out. This is a little crazy but I have had this happen a few times before. As women athletes, we put our bodies through a lot,  sometimes our bodies respond wonderfully and sometimes they act totally crazy. I sometimes experience menstrual cramps so badly that the pain actually causes me to pass out! Now it's bad enough that there is no way to really stop the pain, but I also cannot tell when and where it will happen. Once it happened in the Prague airport and now at our team condo here in Sun Valley.

I was at the condo with Jessie Diggins when the pain got so bad I was on the verge of passing out. Jessie phoned for help and as I was being taken away she stayed back at the Condo very scared for me. After talking to the doctor for a while it was determined that I was OK. A few minutes later I had my two teammates there with me to cheer me up. Jenny and Jessie were hilarious and we made the best of the situation.

I owe the girls a lot! I am so grateful for all of there help and support! Today as the gun went off I started in Bib 3 and felt great. A few K's later and a number of slips on some long uphills and I could feel my body suggesting that I rethink the race. I don't like to drop out of races but I could tell today that I was not going to make any progress by being tough and sticking it out. I skied 15K with my friend Evelyn and then we called it a day. We have 4 races in 5 days coming up so there is lots of time to feel better and better.

The best part about today was how great Jennie and Jessie skied. They both were in the top 10 and were happy with their races! I am so glad that the distraction yesterday, although it affected me, didn't seem to impact them!

On to the next race!!!

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